Animanga in the News: 1/1 - 1/6

Hello everyone! It's this time of the week again for the Animanga news. This week we have announcements of new light novels, the unfortunate passing away of Hisao Maki, news of Akira's flim and also about the company, Bandai. To find out more, read on!~

Bandai Entertainment to Stop Releasing New DVDs, BDs, MangaNamco Bandai Group company has handled anime in several European countries

Bandai Entertainment, the subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings (USA) that handles anime and manga in North America, will stop offering new DVD, Blu-ray Disc, and manga releases next month. It will continue to distribute in its existing catalog lineup, but it will no longer produce and distribute new releases as of this February.

Instead, Bandai Entertainment will focus on licensing rights to other companies, particularly in digital distribution, broadcast, and merchandising. The company will be restructured as a result, and most of its contractors and three of its five fulltime staff members will be laid off. ANN will publish an interview with Bandai Entertainment President and CEO Ken Iyadomi on Tuesday.

Releases in Bandai Entertainment's current catalog will still be available after February, and Bandai Entertainment plans to produce new stock on these existing releases, if needed, until their respective licenses expire.

Bandai Entertainment closed its own online store in December, but other retailers can still order and carry Bandai Entertainment's current releases as before.

Bandai Entertainment had announced in July that it acquired Keiichi Arawi's original Nichijō manga along with its television anime adaptation, but both releases are now cancelled.

Bandai Entertainment President and CEO Ken Iyadomi provides more details on his company's restructuring in an interview with ANN today.

Ken Iyadomi is no stranger to the American anime business. Having been at Bandai Entertainment since its inception in 1996, and VHS anime publishers LA Hero and Manga Entertainment before that, he's seen a lot of changes in the business.

Unfortunately, his latest announcement is one he'd rather not be making. On January 3rd, the publisher is announcing that it will cease to release new DVD and Blu-ray releases in North America, effectively ending its 13-year run in the market. The majority of the division's contractors and three of their five full-time staff members will be laid off, and all releases scheduled after the first week of February have been cancelled.

In a decision made last October, but only now becoming public knowledge, Bandai Entertainment's corporate parent at Namco Bandai Holdings made the decision to exit the American home video business. Iyadomi says he wasn't privy to the fine details. "The decision was made in Japan by the contents SBU (Strategic Business Unit)." That business unit originally included the video games division, but recently was merged with all of the company's audio visual businesses, including Sunrise, Bandai Visual and Bandai Channel.

But the broader reasons are quite clear from the outside. The physical anime business in North America has shrunk substantially over the last five years, and shows no sign of returning to its former glory. "A couple of times we were hit with huge returns, and the financial result was pretty bad," Iyadomi admits. Still, he believes the division might have been able to keep going for a few more years, had the SBU allowed it.

"The pricing range for our products kept dropping in Western countries, and people tended only to buy sets with very reasonable prices, which we understand is what fans want, but it lead us to a different strategy than what Japanese licensors wanted," he remarked.

"So we always had a problem [with licensors wanting something different than what consumers wanted]."

For now, nothing is going out of print. Iyadomi is careful to point out that, while new releases will cease and three of Bandai Entertainment's five employees will be let go (as well as most remaining contractors), the company currently plans to keep its existing catalog in print and available until their respective licenses expire. (No new re-releases or re-packagings will occur, however.) Retailers can continue to order those discs the way they always have, and when stock is depleted, new product will continue to be manufactured.

The timing of the near-shutdown coincides with the final releases of Star Driver, Tales of the Abyss, The Girl Who Leapt Through Space and Mobile Suit Gundam (the new release of 0079 with Japanese audio), which means that they will all be released in their entirety. However, all releases after February 2012 have been cancelled. Three series that were announced last year, including Turn A Gundam, My Ordinary Life (Nichijō) and Gosick, will not be released and their rights will revert back to their licensors.

The third volume of Gundam UC's DVD re-release, which would have comprised episodes five and six has been cancelled; the fifth episode is not scheduled for release in Japan until May. However, this news does not affect the availability of imported Japanese Blu-rays of the series through amazon.jp, which have included English audio and subtitles produced by Sunrise directly. Also unaffected by the announcement is the Ghost in the Shell franchise: the Stand Alone Complex series is distributed entirely by Starz Entertainment's Anchor Bay line (bearing the "Manga Video" brand), while the feature film Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence was a short-term sublicense from Paramount Pictures (current owner of the Dreamworks back catalog), and has already expired.

The manga division, unfortunately, will not be so lucky. Kannagi, Gurren Lagann, Code Geass: Renya of Darkness, Mobile Suit Gundam OOI, Lucky Star Boo Boo Kabagoo and Tales of the Abyss: Jade in My Memories will all see their releases cut short. Their fate had not yet been determined at press time.

"All we can confirm for sure is that those series are not going to be finished by us,"Iyadomi says.

As a corporate entity, Bandai Entertainment will stick around, albeit in a very different form. The company will continue to sublicense its shows to internet and TV broadcasters, as well as for merchandising.

"The function of Bandai Entertainment will change towards helping group companies as opposed to making profit ourselves. We will continue handling licensing and sub-licensing for digital, tv and merchandise for group company properties,"

says Iyadomi, adding that this new role might even involve shows that Bandai Entertainment never had access to. "Whatever group companies want us to handle, we will help them. Our purpose going forward will be like it was in 1996-1998, before we started doing physical distribution."

But at this point, little is set in stone. Only one thing is clear: the role of a distributor for anime in North America is changing, and some well-equipped licensors can now cut them out of the process entirely, if they choose. Japanese publishers can now create Blu-rays with English subtitles, ready to import to English speakers worldwide. While those won't sell as many copies as American-produced discs, the higher price point and lack of middleman can still result in a decent amount of revenue with little additional cost. Bandai Visual Japan recently discovered this for themselves with their release of Gundam Unicorn. "They found the results pretty good, and that's how I think they would like to move forwards," Iyadomi says.

And so, for Bandai Entertainment, its days as a publisher are drawing to a close. Facing a massive restructuring, Iyadomi remains grateful to the fanbase.

"I would like to say thank you to all the fans that have supported us. Although we no longer have new releases coming up, we will still have the catalog, so we appreciate your continued support."

France's Beez Entertainment Stops Releasing New AnimeNamco Bandai Group company has handled anime in several European countries

Although no official announcement has been made yet, ANN has confirmed part of Total Manga's Thursday report on Beez Entertainment, the Namco Bandai Group company that has handled anime sales in France and several other European countries. Specifically, ANN has confirmed that Beez is no longer releasing new anime. Details of how Beez's licenses and currently scheduled releases will be handled in the future has not been officially announced at this time.

Bandai Entertainment, Beez's counterpart in North America, announced earlier this week that it will stop offering new DVD, Blu-ray Disc, and manga releases next month.

The Hollywood Reporter trade magazine's Heat Vision blog is reporting on Thursday that the live-action film adaptation of Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira manga is being shut down because of "casting and budgetary issues." According to the website, the film's production offices in Vancouver will be closed, and "below-the-line" staff (those who work on film's physical production) have been "told to stop working."

The site reports that, according to insiders, if the project's issues cannot be resolved, it "could end up being shelved entirely." Producers Jennifer Kiloran Davisson and Andrew Lazar, along with director Jaume Collet-Serra, will work on revising the film's script for the next two weeks. According to the site, Collet-Serra was working on a US$90 million budget for the film, but now needs to cut the budget down to between US$60-US$70 million to keep it going.

Warner Bros. officially green-lit the film for production in October. The Variety entertainment trade magazine project had described the film as a "potential tentpole project," and it was slated to begin production in late February or early March. (A "tentpole" franchise is a property which will, in theory, support a studio financially for much of a particular movie season.)

Variety had reported in July that Warner hired director Collett-Serra (Unknown, Orphan, House of Wax) to direct the film, which was "being reenvisioned as a $90 million" blockbuster project. In May, previous director Albert Hughes left the project due to "creative differences" on the film.

The development team with producer Lazar (Jonah Hex, Space Cowboys, Get Smart) hired a writer named Albert Torres last year, after screenwriters Gary Whitta, Mark Fergus, and Hawk Ostby were previously attached to the project. When the project was originally announced in 2008, it was intended to be the directorial debut for Ireland's Ruairi Robinson. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio (Titanic, The Aviator) is producing through his Appian Way production company.

The entertainment trade magazine Variety and the film news website Deadline.com reported that the end is not near for the live-action Akira film, even though pre-production is being shut down for now.

Warner Bros. wants the current script draft, which was written by David James Kelly, to be reworked. Deadline.com added the studio will quickly hire "a high-end writer to do a polish" on the script before deciding whether to resume the project or not. Variety named Jonah Nolan (The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises) and Michael Green (Green Lantern) as possible candidates, but emphasized that no rewriting job has actually been offered yet. Studio sources did tell Variety that the script and cast are the issues, not the US$90-million budget.

According to Deadline, the Warner Bros. studio had option deals with two acting candidates for the central role of Tetsuo, Dane DeHaan (Chronicle, True Blood, far left) and Michael Pitt (Boardwalk Empire,. left) However, both of their options deals ended today, so the actors are no longer legally bound to keep their schedules open for Akira. (Production would have started on March 5 before the shutdown.)

Warner Bros. officially green-lit the film for production in October with director Jaume Collet-Serra (Unknown, Orphan, House of Wax). When the project was originally announced in 2008, it was intended to be the directorial debut for Ireland's Ruairi Robinson. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio (Titanic, The Aviator) is producing through his Appian Way production company.

A 25-year-old engineer in Puy-en-Velay, France was sentenced on Tuesday to one year in prison, as well as court-ordered therapy, by a three-judge tribunal for possession and distribution of images of child pornography. According to the court, he had collected "pornographic" Japanese manga featuring sexually abused female characters, six to eight years old, on his computer and shared the manga on the Internet.

The authorities had interrogated him about an Internet forum post in which he wrote, "We're recruiting female members, 12 years old or younger." The man asserted that the post was a joke, and his lawyer added that the defendant is a social recluse.

One of the judges asked the suspect, "When you see a girl six to eight years old being raped, don't you think there's something wrong?" He responded, "If you had read my psychiatric report, I don't imagine myself in the place of the rapist, but rather in the girl's." The judge replied back, "You're very intelligent. The doctor only reported what you told him. Me, I don't believe a word of what you are saying."

The convicted man has been barred from any activity that has regular contact with minors and will be registered on the national sexual offenders' list.

The sentence is a suspended term, so the man will not have to serve time in prison unless he is convicted of another offense (related or unrelated).

The designs can be viewed in full resolution on Weekly ASCII's website. Weekly ASCII also posted the first three manga installments, the fourth manga installment, and an Android phone wallpaper with characters from Hana no Android Gakuen and Kayama's other Weekly ASCII manga (Denpa na Yatsura).

Author and screenwriter Gen Urobuchi (Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Phantom - The Animation, Blassreiter) confirmed on Monday that he is personally writing the script for the bonus Fate/Zero drama CD. The CD will tell the beginning of Kiritsugu and Irisviel's romance which is not in the Fate/Zero anime. The drama CD will be included as a special bonus in the Blu-ray Disc box for the first anime season.

Urobuchi clarified that he is not just "supervising" the drama CD's script, as he was credited in the promotional material for the Blu-ray Disc box. Previously, Urobuchi had to clarify that he is not writing the scripts for the Fate/Zero anime itself.

The Blu-Ray Disc box for the first anime season will ship on March 7 with both English and Japanese subtitles. The box will also contain a new bonus extra written by Type-Moon's Kinoko Nasu and the first original soundtrack CD volume.

The February issue of Shueisha's Saikyō Jump magazine published a one-shot Beelzebub spinoff manga on Wednesday. In addition to the seven-page one-shot by Beelzebub's original creator Ryūhei Tamura, the issue also included color posters, the new series Beast Saga by Manabu Honjyō, "One Piece 3D2Y Promise Mittens," a Toriko special bonus set (with a calendar, a finger-battle sheet for thumb-wrestling, and stickers), and Battle Spirits: Heroes deck divider tabs.

Rinko Ueda to End Stepping on Roses Manga in JapanFebruary finale for Tail of the Moon creator's romance manga which Viz publishes

This year's combined 3rd/4th issue of Shueisha's Margaret magazine is revealing this week that Rinko Ueda is running the second-to-last installment of her Stepping on Roses (Hadashi de Bara o Fume). The manga's finale should then follow in this year's sixth issue of Margaret, which will ship on February 20.

The story follows Sumi Kitamura, a girl who struggles to make ends meet, even as her irresponsible brother keeps bringing more orphans into their home. Then a rich young man named Soichiro Ashida offers to take care of Sumi and her extended family — if she marries him.

Ueda launched the manga in Margaret in 2007, and Shueisha published the eighth compiled book volume last October. Viz Media began publishing Stepping on Roses in North America in 2010 after releasing another manga by Ueda, Tail of the Moon. Viz's seventh Stepping on Roses book volume in English is slated for this March.

Author and manga/anime creator Hisao Maki passed away in a Kanagawa hospital on Monday, January 2. He was 71. According to a person close to Maki, the author was on his way to a harbor in Kanagawa Prefecture on Monday afternoon to enjoy his hobby of yachting. However, his health took a turn for the worse, and he was rushed to the hospital where he passed away. The cause of death has not been made public.

Maki was born under the name Matsuchi Takamori in Tokyo in 1940. Maki wrote several prose and manga stories such as the hard-boiled action manga WARU. WARU and its sequels inspired a dozen live-action adaptations, including two films directed by Takashi Miike with Maki himself in the cast. He was also the younger brother of the late manga creator Ikki Kajiwara (Tiger Mask, Kyojin no Hoshi, Ashita no Joe), and he co-created the story of the Ashita no Joe video anime series Joe vs. Joe (Futari no Joe).

Maki produced several films, including this year's live-action film based on his brother's wrestling hero manga Tiger Mask with Eiji Wentz (Gegege no Kitarō, Brave Story) in the title role. Maki himself acted in several live-action works; he produced, wrote, or acted in several works by Miike. He was also an accomplished karate fighter and instructor.

Maki served as the president of Maki Production and ran his own martial arts training facility, Maki Dōjō.

Kyoto Looks Into Petition for Promoting Film, Anime, Manga"Special content zone" would encourage local production of entertainment

The Kyoto Shimbun paper reported on Wednesday that Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto City, and the Kyoto Chamber of Commerce and Industry are considering a petition to make Kyoto into a "special content zone" to promote local production of films, anime, and manga. As such a zone, the area may receive special economic or other laws that replace nationwide laws to aid the development of local content industries and encourage foreign involvement.

Some of the Kyoto officials' proposed changes would ease restrictions on the use of explosives in outdoor locations such as roads and simplify the process for foreigners involved with film, anime, and manga to recieve visas. The number of young creators in Kyoto is increasing, according to the Kyoto Shimbun, and officials hope to support their efforts.

The Kyoto area is already home to film studios, the Kyoto International Manga Museum, the Japanese headquarters of the Nintendo video game company, and various anime production studios. Kyoto representatives believe that promoting local production of films, anime, and manga could also bolster the area's established tourism, film costume, and other industries.

Officials are drafting the petition for the special, and they plan to hold a conference on the initiative in February before presenting the petition to the Cabinet of Japan in March.

S -Saigo no Keikan- Manga Gets Live-Action Show This FallOhtaka's Magi manga also has "huge project" in the works

The editor-in-chief of Shogakukan's Big Comic magazine revealed on the publisher's Comic Emon! Online website that the S -Saigo no Keikan- police action manga will receive a live-action television series adaptation this fall. Yōichi Komori (Mash GO!!) has been serializing the manga about a special police assault unit in the magazine with Yutaka Tōdō's illustrations since 2009. Shogakukan will ship the manga's sixth compiled book on January 30.

Masaki Nawada, the editor-in-chief of Shogagkukan's Weekly Shonen Sunday magazine, also announced on the same website that Shinobu Ohtaka's Magi fantasy adventure manga has a "huge project" in development. The publisher will provide further details in the future. Ohtaka (Sumomomo, Momomo - The Strongest Bride on Earth) began serializing the manga that re-imagines tales from the classic story One Thousand and One Nights in 2009. Shogakukan will publish the series' eleventh volume on January 18.

Jormungand's Takahashi to Launch New Manga Series Renai Distortion's Inugami, Seigi Keikan Monju's Miyashita also start series in Sunday GX

Tokie Komuro, the editor-in-chief of Shogakukan's Monthly Sunday GX magazine, revealed on the publisher's Comic Emon! Online website that Jormungand manga creator Keitarō Takahashi will launch a new series in Sunday GX this spring. Renai Distortion manga creator Sukune Inugami and Seigi Keikan Monju manga creator Hiroki Miyashita will also launch new series in the same magazine this spring.

Takahashi will end Jormungand in the February issue of Sunday GX on January 19. Takahashi launched this manga about a female arms dealer and her accomplices in Sunday GX in 2006, and the studio WHITE FOX (Steins;Gate) is animating the manga for television. Viz Media began releasing Jormungand in North America in 2009, and the company's English edition of the eighth compiled book will ship on January 10.

Inugami's "new series" in Sunday GX will be the return of Renai Distortion itself in the April issue on March 19. Renai Distortion previously ran in Shonengahosha's magazines such as Young King Ours from 1998 to 2006.

Young Magazine Launches 6 New Manga in 7 WeeksManga from TV show with AKB48's Mayuyu, Kogyoaika Volleyboys' Murata, others

Kodansha's Young Magazine is launching six new manga series between last week and February 6. In this year's combined 4th/5th issue which actually shipped on December 26, Kogyoaika Volleyboys creator Hiroyuki Murata started Dr. Saotome. The title character of this human drama is an overbearing doctor with the looks of a yakuza gnag member, and he works at a hospital full of other unconventional staffers. Murata's Kogyoaika Volleyboys high school comedy inspired a sequel manga, a video anime project, and several live-action projects. Katsumi Tatsuzawa (Furondo) will then launch Poncho, a manga about a mysterious boy playing high school baseball, in the next issue on January 7.

This year's seventh issue will have two new series: the previously revealed GTO spinoff manga Inohead Gargoyle by GTO creator Tohru Fujisawa, and a manga inspired by a January live-action show starring AKB48 idol group member Mayu Watanabe ("Mayuyu"). The title and other details of the latter manga have not been announced, but AKB48 creator Yasushi Akimoto created and planned this manga that Akihiro Nakamura is drawing. Watanabe inspired other manga in the past.

Daisuke Watanabe is launching a suspense action manga called Hanjū (Demibeast) in the ninth issue on January 30. Finally, Shōhei Sasaki will start the second "season" of Kakumei Senshi Inudō Sadao (Revolutionary Warrior Sadao Inudō) in the 10th issue on February 6.

Hōzuki-san Chi no Aneki's Igarashi to Launch New MangaComing-of-age omnibus series to debut in Young Ace's March issue

Hōzuki-san Chi no Aneki's creator Ran Igarashi will debut a new manga in the March issue of Kadokawa Shoten's Young Ace magazine on February 4. The as-yet-unnamed manga will be an omnibus series of coming-of-age teen stories.

Kadokawa Shoten's advertising revealed in November that Igarashi's Hōzuki-san Chi no Aneki comedy romance manga is being adapted into an anime. Igarashi serialized the manga in Young Ace from 2009 to 2011, and a spinoff version now runs in 4-Koma Ace magazine. The fourth compiled volume shipped on December 13.

The February issue of Kodansha's Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine is announcing on Saturday that an anime adaptation of Kôji Kumeta and Yasu's Joshiraku manga has been green-lit. The story follows the behind-the-scenes dressing-room conversations of a group of female (joshi) Japanese verbal show (rakugo) performers.

Kumeta is best known for the Sayonara, Zetsubō-sensei and Katteni Kaizō manga/anime stories, while Yasu illustrated the Toradora! light novels. They launched the Joshiraku manga in the inaugural issue of Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine in 2009, and the third compiled book volume shipped last October. The January issue of Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine had revealed last month that an important Joshiraku announcement would be on the cover of the next issue.

Novelist/screenwriter Shoji Gatoh outlined his plans for the coming year, including a brand-new comedy novel and some "anticipated" projects. Fujimi Shobo plans to release the comedy novel, tentatively titled Amagi Brilliant Park. It will be a "slapstick drama set in a disappointing amusement park in the Tokyo suburbs." Gatoh thinks that the formal announcement of the novel will come this summer.

Gatoh then added that among the projects he cannot talk about yet for 2013 or later, there are some works that he feels are "anticipated…."

Gatoh mentioned earlier that three of his four projects this year (besides Amagi Brilliant Park) are an additional volume or more of the Full Metal Panic! Another spinoff, series script editing on the Hyoka anime, and an additional volume or more of his Copcraft series.

Kaworu Watashiya's Kodomo no Jikan manga and Izumi Kirihara's Hitohira manga will both receive novelizations that ship on the same day, January 12. Rika Nakase is writing the Kodomo no Jikan novel, while another anime scripwriter named Fumihiko Shimo is writing the Hitohira novel. Both novels have original stories created under the supervision of the creators; the Hitohira novel is set during Mugi Asai's first year at Kumataka Arts Academy.

The 11th volume of the Kodomo no Jikan manga is also shipping on January 12.

The five-member idol group Momoiro Clover Z will inspire a manga series that will launch in the March issue of Kodansha's Monthly Shōnen Rival magazine on February 3. In Momo Pro Z, the members of Momoiro Clover Z transform into professional wrestlers, and the gag manga shorts follow their behind-the-scenes stories in the ready room.

The March issue will not only have the first Momo Pro Z manga chapter with a color page, but Momoiro Clover Z will appear on the cover and on an exclusive poster.

Momoiro Clover Z appeared at a Mōretsu Pirates event last month to announce that the members are contributing the anime's opening and ending theme songs.

A teaser website opened at midnight on Saturday to announce a new project collaboration between director Kenji Nakamura (Ayakashi - Samurai Horror Tales, Mononoke, Kūchū Buranko, C) and Fuji TV's late-night programing block Noitamina. More will be revealed in less than 28 days on February 2.

The news source Anime! Anime! reports that the project will be an all-new original anime.

he tsuritama.com domain's name server belongs to Sony Music Entertainment. The site shows an excerpt of a script in which a person named Haru suddenly appears before the speaker and says, "Let's save Earth together!"

"The pricing range for our products kept dropping in Western countries, and people tended only to buy sets with very reasonable prices, which we understand is what fans want, but it lead us to a different strategy than what Japanese licensors wanted," he remarked.

"So we always had a problem [with licensors wanting something different than what consumers wanted."

Hey Zel - thanks for all the news info. I'm worried about the bandai anime news. I'm one of those people that want the cheaper price sets. Hopefully everything will still work out for the consumers at the end.